Dot Hack718
by Noisulli
Summary: A new group of hackers start up in The World. Will this mean destruction to the players that play or salvation? Please R&R. I beg of you! lol
1. Default Chapter

Well, for anyone who read the other story I have over this anime, I am going a different way with this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'The World' but I do own all of the characters in this story that I made up. Maybe not the ones from the show or games but the ones you don't know.

Chapter 1

Welcome 

The server of Mac Anu was filled with players that were both new or veterans of the game. Players traveled in their groups of friends or acquaintances. Whether it varied from a group of just one class or a group of all different classes.

Two players walked across the bridge with everyone staring at one of the two. The blue armored blademaster with pure white wings was known by all as Balmung of the Azure Sky. He traveled the server with a long arm who just talked away.

"Balmung, there is no possible way that I can be defeated by any of these players," the long arm said as he had his arms behind his head as he walked. He wore a green outfit that fit like a twin blades' outfit and wasn't loose or baggy like other long arms preferred. His hair was the same shade as his outfit along with his eyes. The only things that weren't green were his shoes, his spear and a red mark the shape of a handprint on his left cheek. Balmung had once teased him about that mark by asking if he had cheated on a female player.

"You sure? There are plenty of players that hold a higher level than you. For example, me," Balmung smirked as he looked to the side at his comrade.

The long arm gave out a laugh and froze at the sight of a Cerulean Knight. The knight looked to Balmung and then the long arm.

"It's such an inconvenience to see The Balmung of the Azure Sky with a long arm such as he," the knight said.

The long arm narrowed his eyes and shot, "Well, who asked you, you freak of a knight!"

The knight quickly pulled out his sword and raised it striking down on the long arm. Every player watched as the long arm pulled out his spear fast enough to block the knight's sword. The long arm pushed forward causing the knight to fall back. Before the knight could get up, the long arm thrusted his spear through the knight's chest.

The knight turned gray and disappeared from the server. Other Cerulean Knights that were around, pulled out their weapons and walked toward the long arm.

"See, Balmung. Now I'll prove to you that no one can beat me," the long arm said as he faced the knights.

"Don't be a fool," Balmung said as he stood there and just watched as the knights surrounded him in a circle.

The long arm smiled at all the knights who were about attack and kill him. He took a step forward triggering off the knights who began running at him with their weapon in hand. He thrusted his spear forward killing one of the knights off and turned to get the one behind him before he got a chance to strike with his sword.

The two that ran at the long arm from both sides nearly struck him. That is until the long arm jumped into the air and landed behind one of those two knights. The long arm drove his spear through one of those two knights and managed to get the two of them.

The last of the three knights surrounded him in a triangular form. All three of them charged the long arm that killed off the first one. The second one nearly struck the long arm that managed to strike him before the long arm realized the third one held his sword to his neck.

"The end of the line kid," the knight smirked.

The long arm closed his eyes tightly to the humiliation of loosing after this far to a Cerulean Knight. The sound of a sword slashing flesh filled the server as the players watching widened their eyes.

"What did I tell you about getting into fights, Milo?" a voice said.

The long arm opened his eyes to see that he was still alive. He looked back to see the Cerulean Knight on the ground dead and the player who killed him standing before him.

The long arm smiled and asked, "So what brings you here, Kai?"

"You're kidding, right? 'The Boards' began to fill up talking about a green wearing long arm who had challenged a group of Cerulean Knights," Kai replied. This player was a blademaster who wore two swords on his back instead of one. He wore an outfit identical to Kite's twin blade outfit except it was sapphire blue and he didn't wear that hat. He had green eyes and short brown hair that allowed you to see his handsome face.

The long arm looked to Balmung to see that he seemed upset about what he had did. He rolled his eyes and looked to the side. Other players that had watched him fight the Cerulean Knights were cautious when they walked passed him.

"Because of that stunt, the CC Corp will keep their eye on you," Balmung said.

The long arm looked to Balmung and shot, "Well, you didn't even bother to stop me!"

"Shut up, Milo," Kai said as he looked to Balmung. "So the Balmung he told me about is actually The Balmung of the Azure Sky. I would have thought you might've interfered to stop Milo from what he did."

"Kai, don't blame Balmung," Milo said. "I told him that I could prove that I could defeat anyone in this server. He just watched to see if I actually could do it."

"Really," Kai said in a bored tone of voice. "Well, I gotta go."

Kai narrowed his eyes straight at Milo as gold rings formed around him shooting upward as he disappeared from the server. Milo looked to Balmung and gave out a sigh.

* * *

"Well, let's see. That will be two for Sirius and four for Cain," a wavemaster said as she copied it down on a clipboard. The girl wore a red long-sleeved dress that was really short stopping a couple of inches below her waist and wore red boots to match. She had long raven black hair that was braided back and ended just below her waist.

The two other players in her party were Sirius the heavy blade and Cain the twin blade. The only real reason they actually hung around with the female wavemaster was because of her spectacular beauty. They drooled at the sight of her when they first met her and were happy that they were luckier than every male character there was.

Sirius smiled and said, "Well, I guess you beat me again, Cain. Good thing you weren't harmed my dear, Arianna."

"You were lucky enough to meet us and join us two weeks ago," Cain said as he held his blades in his hands.

"Are you sure? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have anyone to heal the two of you," Arianna smiled as she blew the two a kiss. She raised her right hand, which held her staff and pointed in a random direction. "Let's head for the next monster portal!"

The two male characters cheered and ran in the direction she was pointing as she followed close behind. The three stood a certain distance as the monster portal activated itself in front of their eyes.

It was only a single monster and by the looks of it was called a Glygon. Arianna stood to the side and watched as the two male players ran off to fight the beast.

"Listen to me!" Arianna cried out. "It's a level 64 with 5170 HP and 645 SP! It should be easy taking down this Glygon!"

The two male players nodded their heads in acknowledgement and began striking at the beast taking down the monster's HP with each blow. Arianna healed her teammates each time the dragon blew its fire dropping their HP pretty low. After three minutes the dragon fell in defeat and the two male players cheered in their glorious victory.

The wavemaster jumped in the air causing the two male characters to blush from the sight. She smiled at the two proud at their achievement. "Great job you two! We all gained a level!"

She was about to run over to them but froze on the spot. Her two comrades held their weapons at their side and smiled since they made Arianna proud of them.

Arianna's lustrous sky blue eyes reflected what she saw just behind her companions. "Watch out! Get out of there!"

"Arianna, what's wrong?" Sirius asked as he quickly looked around. He found himself face to face with the dragon. "I thought we just defeated you."

Before Sirius was able to do anything, the Glygon quickly opened its mouth and clenched Sirius by the waist. Cain fell to the ground at the sight and yelled out of horror.

"AH!" Sirius screamed as the teeth pierced through his body. "Help me!"

"This isn't supposed to happen! We killed the monster! It's supposed to stay down!" Cain yelled frantically. He jumped to his feet and began stabbing the dragon wanting it desperately to release his friend. "Let him go you bastard!"

Arianna stood there shaking from head to toe. She didn't know what she could do. "I don't know what to do. This isn't supposed to be happening. Sirius!"

Sirius dropped his heavy blade and looked to Arianna with a vague smile. He slowly reached out his arm to her hoping that she would come for him. Tears strolled from Arianna's eyes in both 'The World' and the real world. She shook her head clearing the thoughts of just standing there and watching her friend suffer. She tightened her grip on her staff and ran toward her friends.

Cain stabbed the dragon and realized that it had no effect on it. Arianna stopped in front of the dragon and slammed her staff against the Glygon's head.

"Arianna, it's not working!" Cain exclaimed as he ceased his meaningless attacks.

"No! Do not give up, damn it!" Arianna yelled as she sent the end of her staff into the Glygon's eyes.

The dragon raised to its hind legs and roared opening its mouth wide enough for Sirius to fall out. Cain caught his friend in his arms and began running with Arianna close behind. Arianna looked back to see the Glygon chasing after them as fast as it could.

"Hurry up and Gate Out!" Arianna cried as she began to slowly tire from running.

"I've tried! It won't let me! We're still too close to that thing and we can't Gate Out during a battle!" Cain yelled as he noticed Arianna was slowing her pace. "What are you doing? Don't slow down!"

"I can't help it. I feel tired from running," Arianna said as she tried to keep up. "We need to give Sirius a Healing Potion!"

"I already did but nothing's changed!" Cain yelled as he too began to slow down.

Sirius looked up at Cain and said, "Leave me. That way you and the fair lady can escape unharmed."

"You're talking nonsense! We'd never leave you to that thing! Who knows what might happen to you?" Arianna cried as she tripped.

It seemed like it all happened in slow motion. Arianna slowly fell to the ground as Cain ran not realizing what had happened until it was too late.

"AH!" Arianna screamed as the Glygon blew green fire toward her.

"Arianna!" Cain yelled as he turned around and watched as the fire came toward his friend. "No!"

In that split second before the fire hit her, a figure appeared out of nowhere, took her into his arms, and quickly disappeared. Cain looked around frantically and stopped after Arianna appeared right next to him with her savior.

Whoever it was held her tightly in his arms with a smile on his face. He released her and took a couple of steps back. This player was a twin blade who was wearing a black outfit until it turned light blue and had green eyes before they turned red. His hair was somewhat long being only a couple of inches above his shoulders.

The twin blade gave Arianna a bow before he, all of a sudden, did three back flips and jumped in the air twirling around and landed gracefully on the Glygon's head.

The monster roared and shook its head ferociously hoping that the twin blade would fall off. All the twin blade did was bend down and grab a hold of the dragon's horns. The Glygon raised to its hind legs and used its front legs to knock off the twin blade.

The twin blade was caught off guard that it was smart enough to do that and fell to the ground landing hard on his back. He lay there for a moment with the breath knocked out of him and watched as the dragon landed its front two legs to the ground.

The twin blade smiled, as he looked straight into the dragon's eyes and tried to slowly crabwalk backwards toward the group of three. The dragon roared and tried stomping on the twin blade missing each time. The twin blade managed to get back on his feet and ran over toward the group.

He stopped in front of the wavemaster and said, "I need your help on this, miss. I need you to distract it with your magic while I get on its back and obliterate it. So what do you say, miss?"

Arianna looked to the dragon that charged toward them and nodded her head 'yes'. "I'll do it!"

The twin blade smiled and looked back at the dragon. He looked back at the female wavemaster and watched as she kissed Sirius on the lips hoping he would get better soon. The twin blade looked to the side with solemn eyes.

Arianna looked to the twin blade and said, "I'm ready."

The twin blade looked to her and said, "Well, then be ready with the distraction."

He looked to the dragon and ran toward it as it came toward him and jumped in the air landing on its back. The Glygon was about to shake him off until Arianna began casting spells that caught its attention.

"Vak Rom!" Arianna screamed as her attack struck the Glygon catching its attention.

The dragon roared at her as it started its charge toward her. Arianna began running from her two comrades and trying to keep a distance between the dragon and herself.

The twin blade struggled to keep balanced atop the Glygon as it charged this way and that. He smiled as he finally knelt down on one knee and held his twin blades up to his face. His red eyes flared with excitement as he readied himself for an attack that he himself came up with.

"Well, I guess this is the end, Mr. Dragon," the twin blade smirked as he stood to his feet. "Death Strike!"

The twin blade quickly bent down and began piercing the dragon's back multiple times. The dragon roared from the pain it felt from the attack. The twin blade stuck both of his blades in the back of the dragon as he sat down forming a handheld computer in his hands. He typed in the letters 'd-e-a-t-h' and pressed enter setting off a program that engulfed the Glygon with streams of white data that entered through the stabs that the twin blade had just made.

The wavemaster and her two comrades watched in suspense as the Glygon was slowly deleted bit by bit. The handheld computer that the twin blade held in his hands disappeared as he forced his blades from the back of the Glygon and stood to his feet jumping from the back of the dragon.

The dragon soon disappeared for good and the twin blade walked over to the group of comrades who were happy at the end of the dragon. The female wavemaster ran over to her comrades and cheered at the twin blade's victory.

"You did it!" she cheered as she jumped in the air causing the twin blade to blush along with the other two players there. "Thank you so very much!"

Sirius sat up and looked to the wounds he had received from the Glygon to see that they slowly disappeared along with the pain. "What the hell was that thing?"

The twin blade was about to answer when a young female voice was heard. "Malice! Mr. Malice!"

The twin blade rolled his eyes as he looked back to see a wavemaster running toward him. The female wavemaster struggled as she ran considering the dress she wore was long enough for her to trip on. She tripped.

The twin blade walked over to her and looked down at her as she got to her feet wiping the dirt off her white dress. She looked up at Malice to reveal that she was short compared to Malice coming up only to his chest. She forced her long dark blue hair back and adjusted her glasses that were about to fall off.

"Mr. Malice, I can't believe what you just did for those players over there," the wavemaster said as she held a clipboard in her hands with her magic staff under her arm. "Were you planing on killing them after saving them?"

The twin blade's eyes widened as he noticed the group of three staring at him. He narrowed his eyes at the female wavemaster in front of him and looked to the group of three with a smile on his face.

"Is what she says true?" Arianna asked as she crossed her arms.

"Partially," the twin blade said. "I changed my mind after you helped me fight the Glygon."

Arianna turned her back to Malice and began walking with her fists as tight as they could be. Sirius and Cain ran to catch up with her without even saying a goodbye to Malice. Arianna stopped and looked back at Malice.

"Thank you," she said under her breath before she gated out of the warp area.

The twin blade watched as the group of three disappeared from the warp area. He looked to the female wavemaster that still stood there by his side and rolled his eyes.

"Why are you here?" Malice asked as he looked to the data filled sky.

The wavemaster looked up at him and answered, "You know I got orders from Diamond to watch over you."

"How can someone weaker than me watch over me?" Malice asked as he began walking away from the girl.

The wavemaster began walking as well trying to keep up with the twin blade. Malice stopped and smirked as he gated out. The wavemaster sighed out of disappointment. "Diamond won't like this. Who knows where he might be? Malice!"

* * *

The twin blade appeared not in the server of Fort Ouph but instead in a warp area that no ordinary player could get to. He walked around and looked at the characters that once were. For those of you who don't know this place, it's called the Net Slum.

Malice froze at the sight of whom he wanted to see and smiled. "I thought you might be here…Helba."

END

The end of a story that goes a different path than the other story. Which do you think is better? Please answer that question in the review.

Noi


	2. Connection

Chapter 2 of a story that I hope you like! Well, I thought I might write another chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'The World' or any of the characters from the series that might appear!

Chapter 2 Connection 

The character Kai entered the server Carmina Gadelica causing the players around to cease from their conversations and stare at him. Kai looked to all the characters that stared at him and narrowed his eyes at them hoping they would look away.

He walked away from the Chaos Gate toward the grunty farm in hopes that no one would bother him there. With each step he took, he swore he heard a pair of footsteps following right behind. He didn't bother to look in hopes of making a fool of himself if no one were to stand right behind him.

He turned right and walked quickly taking a short glance behind him to see no one in sight. He stopped for a moment and heard the footsteps just right behind him. But then, why couldn't he see anyone when he looked?

Kai continued to walk toward his destination and stopped after just a few steps. He looked at the young grunty that wandered around the stable and knelt down to pet it.

"Aren't you such a cute creature?" Kai whispered as he patted its head. "You don't see anyone behind me, do you, huh?"

The grunty upon seeing that Kai had no food for it took a step back and went along with its own business. Kai sat down and looked to the data filled sky.

What are you looking at? a voice said.

Kai looked around to see that the only person there was the grunty farm man. He looked over to the grunty and then looked at the ground he sat on to see that there was a faint shadow over him. When he looked behind him, there was no one.

He was about to say something when out of the blue an arm wrapped around his neck and forced him the opposite direction he was looking. "Kai, I was looking everywhere for you. I had to ask a complete stranger where you were and luckily they knew who I was talking about. Don't you think it's strange that players we've never met know who you are by your name? I mean, players always talk about you on The Board and they never once mention me. I mean, I'm almost always with yo-"

"Don't you ever cease to talk. I bet that stranger you asked about me has gone to therapy by now," Kai smirked as he staggered to his feet. It was hard for him considering he was still pinned by the one who had his arm wrapped around his neck. He struggled to get free and whined, "Let go of me, Milo."

Milo released Kai from his stranglehold and looked around at where they stood. "Why are you in the grunty farm anyway? The last time you were ever here was when that one player persuaded you to take care of her grunty and then it died on you and she blamed you. We had no knowledge on how to raise a grunty and when it was sick we didn't realize it until it was too late. So I ask again, why are you here?"

"You do know that that player gave me a grunty she knew would die if something wasn't done?" Kai sighed, as he looked to the grunty who roamed the little stable. "It wasn't my fault. I didn't know the symptoms for what it had and besides I was busy that entire week."

"True. Finals were coming up and if you didn't study you were most likely going to fail," Milo smirked. "I managed to pass."

"Only because I got stuck tutoring you. And thus you were the reason I was busy, you hopeless goof," Kai smiled. "Anyway, I'm here because I am. When you were walking over here, did you, by any chance, hear a pair of footsteps walk right behind you?"

Milo turned his head to the side and replied, "Now I just think you're hearing things my friend. Have you been sleeping lately? Or is it that you been eating the wrong foods? Maybe it's that you're in love. You still like girls, right?"

Kai tightened his fists tighter and tighter through all that Milo had to say and after the last thing he said he yelled, "Of coarse, I still like girls! What does that have to do with what I asked?"

"Are you sure because I didn't hear any footsteps walking behind me when I came over here. Maybe something's wrong with your goggles. Have you checked to see if maybe it was that? Hmm, it could be that you were just feeling lonely and you thought that hearing someone behind you would bring up your chances for a new friendship. Or maybe more if it was a gu-," Milo said as his mouth was covered up by Kai's hand before he finished what he was about to say.

"Sometimes I just think ever meeting you was the worst thing in my life," Kai said as he lowered his hand from Milo's mouth.

Milo put his finger to his chin and said, "No, I think the first virus we ever came up against was." He froze from saying more after the death glare given to him by Kai. True the virus was the worst thing but it had a bigger impact on Kai then Milo. Milo raised his arms into the air and asked, "So what do you suppose we do now?"

"I don't know," Kai sighed. "I was just trying to have a normal day in The World until you came along."

"So you're saying that I ruined your visit with the grunty over there and what you thought were a pair of footsteps following you?" Milo said. "What a day I ruined for you. Well, if you don't want me around then I'll be off. Maybe Balmung is logged on right now. I'll send him a message. Bye, Kai!"

Milo ran off waving with Kai waving back. The rings formed around Milo as he ran and shot up as he continued to wave farewell.

Kai walked over to the stable where the lonely noble grunty was usually found and took a seat on the fence. He looked to the data filled water and gave out a sigh.

What are you looking at? the voice from before asked once more.

Kai jumped and looked around frantically while making sure that he didn't fall off of the fence. "Who's there? Who keeps talking to me?"

Nothing. Maybe Milo was right for a change and he hadn't gotten enough sleep. He stared at the ground to see the shadow hovering over him once more and asked, "Why are you following me?"

Again there was no reply. He jumped off of the fence and allowed the golden rings to engulf him to take him to a destination that he and only other skilled players who knew of it could go to.

Kai appeared in an almost blank warp area that he had tried to create himself hidden from the eyes of the CC Corp. He looked around and sat down on the only thing there, which happened to be a cliff that allowed you a great view of nothing. He let his legs hang over the edge of the cliff and lay there with his back to the ground. He looked to the pitch-black sky with his arms behind his head for some cushion.

What are you loo- the voice started and was interrupted by Kai who yelled, "Who are you!"

He sat up quickly and looked in the only direction you could be and saw a faint outline of a figure for a split second. Kai stood to his feet and walked to where it once was. "Whoever you are come out or be completely deleted along with this warp area of mine."

Kai's eyes widened suddenly as the faint outline appeared in front of him. It disappeared in a matter of seconds and Kai began looking around to see where it went off to. "What exactly are you? Are you a wondering AI? I've never seen one before but I've heard of them. What do you want with me?"

Kai's eyes widened as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck. A pair of lips pressed against his ear as he heard Can you help me?

…Free me from this pain. the voice said. Kai pushed himself from the figure and was about to gate out when a piercing noise filled the warp area. Kai fell to his knees and covered his ears hoping the noise would be drowned out somewhat.

"AAAHHHH! STOP IT!" Kai screamed. "STOP IT PLEASE!"

The warp area began to disintegrate with the dark nothingness cracking up and breaking as if it were glass. Kai continued to scream as golden rings appeared around him allowing him to gate out of there.

Kai appeared back in Carmina Gadelica with nearly every player there staring at him. Kai just knelt there on the ground covering his ears not realizing at the moment where he was. His eyes looked around as he slowly staggered to his feet.

Other players began talking in whispers of who they thought he might be. The rumor that he might be a hacker. 'The Board' had given a description once and a name but players never knew if it was Kai.

Kai looked around with the players still looking at him. When they caught sight of him when he finally made to his feet, they began turning their gaze from him with a look of terror on it. Kai heard a glimpse of what a wavemaster had to say about him when he looked away. "What happened to him?"

"Kai, I found Balmu-" Milo started as he froze on the spot. His voice began to tremble with fright as he eyes went wide. "What happened to you, Kai?"

"What do you mean?" Kai said as he turned to face Milo. He noticed that Milo's eyes were wide at the sight of him. "Milo?"

"You…you look like…" Milo started unable to finish what he wanted to say.

Kai looked to his hands and saw what Milo and the other players were terrified about. His hands were torn up and in one hand three fingers were broken back making you want to cringe when you saw it. His clothes were torn and he looked to his legs to see that his right leg was broken with one of the bones sticking out.

He looked back at Milo and watched as he walked over to him. Milo grabbed a hold of his arm and led him over to the Chaos Gate choosing a warp area and disappearing from the server.

When the two arrived at the warp area, Kai sat himself down on the ground and just looked at his torn and disfigured body. Milo just stood there and asked, "Kai, what happened?"

"It must have been the cause of that wondering AI," Kai said calmly. "At least, that's what I think it was."

"A wondering AI? You actually came up against one and lived. I thought maybe they kill players sending one of those virus things after you or is that just hackers? I'm not quite sure. Well, I guess it deleted the data that you placed over this look," Milo said. "You should get your old look back right away or other players will keep looking at you. So what did that AI look like?"

"I don't know," Kai said as he watched as monsters came near causing the calm music to turn into battle music. He looked up to the sky and heard What are you looking at?

Kai staggered to his feet and faced the group of monsters that came toward him ready to slaughter him. Milo watched as Kai pulled off one the swords on his back and disappeared for a split second. When Kai appeared where he once stood, the battle music ceased from playing and continued with the calm field music.

"So are you going to remake your look or keep it the way it was before that AI destroyed it?" Milo smiled with his hands behind his head. "If you create a new look, then I'll have to update what "The Board" says about you. Just remember to cover your tracks so those Cerulean Knights don't place you on that wanted list of theirs. That Kamui's been good not to place you on that list. But one of these days, CC Corp will catch on to us. But it's fun nonetheless."

"You talk too much," Kai said as a handheld computer appeared in his hands. The disfigured hand with three fingers broken back held the computer while the other typed. "Green eyes, brown hair, and a sapphire outfit should be all that I need to override this revolting look."

A flash of light blue light shot up around Kai as his torn outfit covered up with a new sapphire blue one and the tears and broken fingers disappeared as if they were never torn or broken. Kai looked to Milo who gave him a smile of approval at the look and watched as his friend walked over to him. Milo placed his hand on Kai's right cheek letting off a flash of light blue light.

"There. Now that gives you one unique look," Milo said as he removed his hand to reveal that a symbol was placed on Kai's right cheek. "What do you think? I actually think it would make it easier for other players to know it was you, but I guess then you would have to hide yourself from CC Corp if I gave away that bit of information. Hmm, what to do?"

Kai walked over to a Spring of Myst and looked in to see the new mark that was now on his face. He looked to Milo and asked, "Why did you put that there? It looks like a bunch of squiggly lines."

"For your information, it is a one of a kind work of art by me," Milo pouted.

"That just proves how awful you are at drawing," Kai smirked as he ran his fingers through the design. "Though, I think your design is a bad imitation of something I've seen before. We better get back to Carmina Gadelica. You were saying that you found Balmung?"

"Yes, and it was really hard because he was trying to avoid me for the day," Milo said as he wrapped an arm around Kai's neck. The gold rings formed around them and shot up into the air. "But no one can escape from the gre-"

The two disappeared from the warp area. A faint silhouette stood there a good distance from where the two once were. A smile filled its face as it said, "…free me from this pain."

END

Hope you liked this chapter and I ask that all who read this to write a review! Stay tuned for the next chapter to come out soon (or maybe in a couple of weeks or months). Review Please!

Noi


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